Transport in Taranaki: how to save money (and Papatūānuku) 💸 🌏
Petrol costs are rising and expected to rise again (and again). But what are the alternatives in Taranaki to get around while reducing our use of fuel? Find below local tips & actions to protect your wallet and the planet!
1 - Active Transports 👣 🛴 🚲
The cheapest way to get around is by using your own energy: walking, scootering or cycling!
We often misjudge how time-efficient and CHEAP active transports are. Here are four benefits:
No time wasted looking for a park and/or sitting in traffic
No parking costs
Minimal equipment needed: walking shoes and even push-bikes don’t cost much (think second-hand and Bike Kitchen!)
Great health & wellbeing outcomes: what’s better than walking/cycling and having time to exchange a few words with locals on your way to town?
💬 Have Your Say: NZTA - Waka Kotahi is currently consulting on 5 proposed changes to improve the safe and efficient use of lanes and better align the rules with how people already travel (footpaths, legal gaps when passing, e-scooters).
→ The online consultation is open here until Wed. 25 March, 5pm.
🍪 Regarding the (endless) hot topic “Concrete separators aka Tim Tams” on Devon St West (Ngāmotu, New Plymouth), we will simply reinforce what we published in 2023 during the first local consultations: we fully support better and safer active transport options for all in Taranaki, including the South West/Devon St West concrete separators installed by NZTA - Waka Kotahi.
⚡⚡ New e-scooters are now available in Ngāmotu - New Plymouth!JOLT is now offering e-scooter rentals all around town. It is a kiwi-owned and operated company (also operating in Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt & Selwyn).
→ Key infos: 16+ yo, $1 to unlock + 50c per minute, 6am - 11:30pm. Download the JOLT app to use.
2 - Public Transport: NEW bus network on 7 April 2026! 🚌 🚏
What is better than having a driver with their own vehicle, allowing you to relax and do whatever you want (think beautiful music, book, podcast, or personal thoughts!) during the ride? 🎉
The Taranaki Regional Council operates buses all around Taranaki, including:
Citylink commuter and school services in Ngāmotu - New Plymouth, Oākura and Whaitara
Daily Hāwera - New Plymouth Connector
Southlink in South Taranaki
On 7 April, all these different buses will all operate under one name: Te Pahi Taranaki. The routes will be:
Regional services:
101 - Hāwera to New Plymouth (weekday and Saturday service)
102 - Ōpunake to Hāwera
103 - Pātea to Hāwera
106 - Ōpunake to New Plymouth
Ngāmotu - New Plymouth urban services: 15 routes from Whalers Gate to Whaitara.
→ How much does the bus cost in Taranaki? 💸 GREAT QUESTION!
Depending on your trip (how many zones travelled), you will get charged between $2.50 and $7.40. But you can also travel for FREE (see below).
→ You will travel for FREE if you are under 5 yo, a WITT student or a SuperGold Card holder between 9am - 3pm with a Bee Card.
→ You will pay LESS if you have a Bee Card (available to all), if you are under 19 yo or have a Community Service Card.
→ Bus fares are explained here.
3 - Driving differently 🚗 🙋
First, driving less. It seems obvious, but what if you could reorganise your trips and make them more efficient?
You need your car for a BIG grocery run and to pick up some friends and whānau? What about starting with your groceries and then picking them up? One stone, two runs! 🐦⬛🐦⬛
Sharing is caring (and saving)! Have you considered carpooling to work? To town? To school? For long trips?
(On average, a common car costs $12,000 per year… Think fuel, service, tyres, insurance, WOF + Rego, depreciation… Source.)
→ There are a few online options coordinating carpooling around Aotearoa NZ (get in touch if you know more!):
New Zealand Ride Share: 36,000+ members on Facebook
CoSeats: website where you can offer and request rides - FREE, easy sign up.
App Carpoolin: connects Drivers & Passengers for planned journeys.
🦜 Best tip: chat with your colleagues, neighbours, friends and whānau first! You should be able to synchronise a few road trips! (Your workplace might also have solutions! Get in touch with them!)
4 - Go Electric ⚡🚘
Active and public transport are what we should all aim for, but in 2026 in Taranaki, it can be complicated because we have limited reliable, affordable and safe options and because we can have long distances to cover. (We won’t force you to cycle from Hāwera to Whaitara.)
But we can go electric.⚡ Upfront costs are usually higher than petrol cars, but you will save in the long run (especially if you drive a lot).
🤔 What if Taranaki became the new Norway? In VERY short: Norway had (and has) a BIG oil and gas industry and went from being a poor European country in the 1800s (red houses everywhere? It was the cheapest paint…) to one of the richest. The interesting thing is that now 90% of new cars sold in Norway are electric... More details here.
Mentioning EV, we should also discuss the electrification of your whare and the big “S word”: solar! But this is for another kōrero!
→ If you want to explore a potential switch to EV (and/or electrification + solar!), you can use these resources:
Rewiring Aotearoa - Why electric vehicles matter?
Get in touch with Community Energy Taranaki: website - Facebook page
Taranaki EV Owners Group (370+ members on Facebook)*
* Consumer NZ recently published an “overwhelming 96% of electric vehicle (EV) owners would buy another EV, confirming strong satisfaction among current owners” - Nov - Dec 2025.
5 - Bringing back Passenger Trains to Taranaki 🚉
The list of benefits of having Passenger Trains is LONG… The Future is Rail Taranaki, a small community group working to bring back passenger rail to the region, wrote a beautiful article explaining why it makes sense.
→ If you want to support them, you can subscribe to their email updates here.
P.S. We did our VERY BEST to not use the E-word, EMISSIONS… But of course, if you avoid the petrol station, then you reduce your emissions, and it is GREAT for all of us, including papatūānuku. 🌏
